Seeking happiness the Bhutanese way

People and organisation in many countries around the world claim to have adopted Bhutan’s human development vision of Gross National Happiness (GNH).

Is the future truly Asian?

This is a question that is at the heart of the tensions across the Pacific. To Parag Khanna, author of The Future Is Asian, the answer is almost self-evident. However, if you read his book carefully, you will find that he thinks global power will be shared between Asian and Western

Moderation, a wilting hallmark of Malaysia

Throughout the months of September and October, the uproar in Malaysian society in the run-up to the 14th general elections that could be called anytime now, has been energised by controversies such as one over a proposed beer...

Trade is key in ASEAN-India ties

India's Republic Day, celebrated on January 26, is the occasion that New Delhi picks to showcase itself to the world.

After 16 years, 9/11 Truth Movement fights on

The plea has come against a backdrop that a lot of people, including a vast number of Americans themselves, were not aware that it was the third skyscraper which came down on that day, a few hours after the Twin Towers were completely destroyed.

Did the US just say 'pivot'?

The hand-wringers of the past five months who forlornly expected that wider Asia was poised to be cashed out by an America under President Donald Trump are probably breathing a bit easier lately.

Rohingya crisis: A concern for the region

Myanmar, on its part must, realise that blaming all the current atrocities on the so-called terrorists and claiming that its security forces had nothing to do with the crimes committed, in spite of unvarying accounts of thousands of refugees to the contrary, is neither credible nor helpful in solving the situation.

A very Singaporean dilemma in picking a president

Singaporeans will head to the polls to pick a new president on September 23. Or maybe not.

ASEAN's march into the digital economy

ASEAN was born literally out of the ashes of colonialism and the Vietnam War. It started as a security pact, but gradually evolved into an economic and financial community that is not yet a cultural common, mainly because of its celebrated diversity.

A question of fair play

Around this time last year, Malaysians were on an emotional roller coaster that ranged from excitement, nervous hope, disappointment to unexpected joy. But it was all good because they were rooting for the same thing: their athletes to win Olympic and Paralympic gold.

Make code of conduct negotiations count

In 1986, the then Philippine President Corazon Aquino met with China's paramount leader Deng Xiaoping to discuss the South China Sea issue.

Bearing the burden of undefined privileges

The sentencing of two editors to one-year jail terms in the southern Indian state of Karnataka for alleged breach of legislative privilege draws into focus the role of the press in reporting activities of lawmakers.

Asia's search for cultural-intellectual rejuvenation

If Asian economies, especially cities, do not begin the search for modernity and moderate values and beliefs in earnest, they will be overwhelmed by the forces of extremism, domestic or imported.

PM's crucial India visit

Sheikh Hasina's upcoming visit to India during April 7-10 is turning out to be perhaps her most important bilateral visit to a country that surrounds Bangladesh from three sides, making it the only neighbour in all but physical sense.

Time to sever ties with Pyongyang

Serves North Korea right. Its Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un wanted his half-brother dead and his lackeys decided to do the dastardly deed in Malaysia.

Just an ordinary journalist

We are inheritors of a glorious legacy and bound by the rigours of a demanding craft. We are not hoodlums who threaten to rape or maim those we don't like or shout out those we disagree with. The best of us err, sometimes grievously, but have learnt that making amends can be uplifting.